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Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the few cancers whose incidence continues to increase. The goal of the current study was to investigate the presentation and survival trends of patients with HCC presenting to a university hospital between 1998 and 2015., Methods: Study data were ascertained by individual chart review with survival data also supplemented by National Death Index query up to December 31, 2015. Patients were divided into three 6-year groups by diagnosis date (1998-2003, 2004-2009, and 2010-2015)., Results: A total of 2106 consecutive patients with HCC were included. The majority of patients had either hepatitis C (56.7%) or hepatitis B (22.1%), but cases of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis HCC increased by 68% over the most recent time period. Screening/surveillance identified 61% of HCC cases, but only 31% of these patients underwent curative treatment, which did not increase significantly over time. The overall median survival was 29.8 months (2.48 years) and without improvement over time. On multivariable analysis, Asian or Hispanic ethnicity, meeting Milan criteria, and receiving any of the standard HCC treatments were found to be significantly associated with improved survival, but diagnosis time period and liver disease etiology were not., Conclusions: Over the last 18 years, the percentage of cases of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis HCC has increased but not overall survival. It is interesting to note that only 31% of patients with HCC identified via screening/surveillance received any curative treatment. Further research is needed to better understand the barriers to curative care for patients with HCC and the causes of the lack of improvement in survival in the more recent patient cohort. Cancer 2018;124:2588-98. © 2018 American Cancer Society., (© 2018 American Cancer Society.)

The effect of metabolic syndrome on chronic liver diseases other than non-alcoholic fatty liver disease has not been fully elucidated. Our goal was to evaluate if metabolic syndrome increased the risk of liver-related complications, specifically hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and decompensation, in cirrhotic chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 3503 consecutive cirrhotic CHC patients seen at Stanford University from 1997-2015. HCC developed in 238 patients (8-year incidence 21%) and hepatic decompensation in 448 patients (8-year incidence 61%). The incidence of HCC and decompensation increased with Hispanic ethnicity, diabetes, and number of metabolic risk factors. Multivariate Cox regression analysis demonstrated that, independent of HCV therapy and cure and other background risks, Hispanic ethnicity with ≥2 metabolic risk factors significantly increased the risk of HCC and hepatic decompensation. There was no interaction between Hispanic ethnicity and metabolic risk factors. All in all, metabolic risk factors significantly increase the risk of liver-related complications in cirrhotic CHC patients, especially HCC among Hispanics. As the prevalence of metabolic syndrome increases globally, targeted health interventions are needed to help curb the effects of metabolic syndrome in CHC patients.

Background & Aims: Although hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections remain major risk factors for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), non-viral causes of HCC, particularly non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), are becoming increasingly prevalent. The aim of this study was to compare the clinical characteristics and survival of cryptogenic and viral HCC., Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study involving 3878 consecutive HCC patients seen at two tertiary centres in the United States and one in Taiwan from 2004 to 2014. We compared the clinical characteristics, treatment and survival of patients by underlying aetiology: cryptogenic (n = 696), HBV (n = 1304) or HCV (n = 1878)., Results: Cirrhosis was present in 66.8% of the cryptogenic HCC patients, compared with 74.7% of HBV-related HCC (HBV-HCC) (P = .001) and 85.9% of HCV-HCC (P < .001). Compared to viral HCC, cryptogenic HCC patients presented with larger tumours and at later stages of disease. Five-year overall survival was 16.3% among cryptogenic HCC patients compared with 31.9% among HBV-HCC patients and 27.7% among HCV-HCC patients (P < .001 for both by the log-rank test). HCC aetiology was not an independent predictor of survival, though ethnicity, cirrhosis status, meeting Milan criteria and treatment allocation were., Conclusions: Compared with viral HCC patients, those with cryptogenic HCC had lower prevalence of cirrhosis, were diagnosed with larger tumours at more advanced stages of disease, and had poorer overall survival. Additional efforts are needed to identify patients at risk of cryptogenic HCC and to identify cryptogenic HCC at earlier stages of disease., (© 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)